It has been shown that the external parameters of eggs of the garden lizard, Calotes versicolor, are not suitable for assessing the exact developmental stages of embryos. In order to make use of this lizard's embryos for experimental work, a series of developmental stages has been characterized, using various morphological features.

The LA/N-cp rat is, when homozygous for the cp gene, hyperphagous, hyperlipidemic, and corpulent. The corpulent males develop atherosclerotic disease and myocardial lesions while corpulent females and lean rats do not. The fasting plasma glucose concentrations of corpulent rats are in the normal range, but insulin concentrations are mildly elevated in corpulent females and markedly elevated in corpulent males. Glucose tolerance testing reveals a glucose intolerance in corpulent rats in the presence of very high insulin concentrations, and this deficiency is more severe in the male rats. Glucagon concentrations are higher in corpulent rats than lean rats at 3 months of age and decrease progressively with age. In contrast, glucagon concentrations increase with age in lean rats and are higher than those in corpulent rats at 9 months. The islets of Langerhans of corpulent rats exhibit marked hyperplasia that increases with age. The hyperplasia is less extreme in corpulent female rats. The abnormalities suggest that this strain of rats has an insulin resistance leading to impaired glucose tolerance and progressive pancreatic disturbance. This process may be related to an accompanying defect causing elevated concentrations of very low density lipoproteins and correlates with the development of atherosclerotic disease.

The JCR:LA-corpulent rat is a congenic strain that, if homozygous for the cp gene, is obese with a very low-density lipoprotein hyperlipidemia and is insulin resistant. The male corpulent rats develop atherosclerotic lesions of the major arteries and myocardial lesions. Corpulent and lean male rats were induced through mild food restriction to run intensively (approximately 6,000 m/day) from 6 wk to 6 mo of age. Food restriction, especially when coupled with running, lowered all classes of lipids in the whole serum of corpulent rats. The principal changes in lipid concentrations were in the very low-density lipoprotein fraction. Food restriction caused a significant drop in fasting insulin levels of corpulent rats and decreased beta-cell hyperplasia. Both effects were more marked in the running animals. There was a significant decrease in myocardial lesion frequency in the food-restricted corpulent rats and an absence of lesions in the running rats. The results indicate that intensive physical activity can largely correct the lipid abnormalities and insulin resistance of this atherosclerosis-prone strain, and these changes are associated with inhibition of the disease process. However, moderate food restriction has similar effects, and the greater effects seen with intensive running may simply reflect an effectively more severe metabolic restriction in the presence of the exercise.

Estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) hormone receptor status and levels were correlated with blood group antigen (A, B, H, Lewis-a and Lewis-b) expression in 48 cases of human breast cancer. Reduced expression of all the blood group antigens was observed with statistically significant reductions for H, Lewis-a and Lewis-b (P < 0.05). The proportions of ER- and PR-positive breast cancers staining for Lewis-b were greater than in hormone-receptor-negative cancers but the differences were not significant. The loss of Lewis-b antigen in breast cancer increased with tumor grade but did not correlate with axillary lymph node metastases. Loss of Lewis-b antigen is probably not a predictor of local recurrence and survival in the short period of observation. We conclude that the loss of H, Lewis-a and, especially, Lewis-b in breast cancer reflects the invasiveness of breast cancer and that Lewis-a and b expression is probably only marginally and not significantly affected by steroid hormone receptor status and levels.

Rats of the atherosclerosis-prone JCR:LA-corpulent strain were subjected to long-term low (0.5% wt/vol) or high (4% wt/vol) consumption of ethanol from 1 to 12 months of age. The corpulent rats are hyperphaglc, obese, and Insulin-resistant; exhibit a marked very low density lipoproteln hyperlipldemla; and develop both vascular and myocardlal lesions while eating a normal rat chow. The total lipld profile of the rat sera showed only limited changes with ethanol consumption. There were also no significant effects on high density lipoproteln llplds. Ethanol consumption was associated with elevated fasting glucose concentrations in both lean and corpulent rats and a strong decrease In fasting Insulin levels and pancreatic B-cell volume density In the hyperlnsullnemlc corpulent rats. The relative frequency of myocardlal nodules of chronic Inflammatory cells was Increased In the ethanolconsuming rats, both lean and corpulent. In contrast, old organized lesions (scars) were absent in the ethanol-consumlng corpulent rats. Thus, ethanol consumption had no major effect on serum llplds or lipoprotelns in the corpulent rat but was associated with a reduction In insulin resistance and Islet cell hyperplasla, with an associated decreased Incidence of myocardlal lesions. (Arteriosclerosis 9:122-128, January/February 1989) E pidemiologic studies in man have established that a wide range of risk factors are associated with the development of atherosclerotic disease and its sequelae.